At issue was a signal quality problem with the iPhone 4 that emerged when the smartphone was released in June 2010. When users touched the outside rim of the phone where the two parts of the metal casing/antenna met, it could interfere with the signal and cause enough signal degradation to ruin a call. The issue with the fourth-generation iPhone quickly became known as Antennagate and the so-called "iPhone 4 death grip," which was replicated in the PCMag Labs, became a PR debacle for Apple.

Though Apple eventually offered users a free bumper in 2010, the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs derided the complaints of iPhone 4 users, responding to one by suggesting the Apple customer wouldn't have reception problems if he would simply "avoid holding it that way."

That immediately infamous solution didn't hold up in court, however, and Apple wound up on the hook for a whopping $53 million in the eventual settlement with some 25 million owners of the iPhone 4. The settlement combined 18 individual lawsuits into one, and claimed Apple misrepresented itself by, "concealing material information in the marketing, advertising, sale, and servicing of its iPhone 4 particularly as it relates to the quality of the mobile phone antenna and reception and related software."

Of course, not all of the potential claimants will get the $15 payout or an iPhone bumper. The deadline for filing a claim on www.iPhone4Settlement.com has long since passedclaimants had just 120 days to file after Apple made the settlement opportunity available last March.

Damon Poeter got his start in journalism working for the English-language daily newspaper The Nation in Bangkok, Thailand. He covered everything from local news to sports and entertainment before settling on technology in the mid-2000s. Prior to joining PCMag, Damon worked at CRN and the Gilroy Dispatch. He has also written for the San Francisco Chronicle and Japan Times, among other newspapers and periodicals.
More »